Cosmic Catch
by xX-Ibble-Xx
Summary: A boy begins a Pokemon journey in the town of Seldo. What will he discover alongside his friends and Pokemon...?
1. Chapter 1

Phil shut the door to his house and took in a breath of crisp Autumn air. He had turned fifteen over a week ago, and he was sick of waiting. Today, he was going to get a Pokemon.

There weren't many people out on the streets of Seldo town this morning. Here and there, Phil's neighbors raked leaves or ran errands, but for the most part the streets were empty. Phil walked the path to the Lab with confidence. He certainly knew it well; he had marched this way countless mornings, ever since he was ten years old, and had trodden back home in defeat just as many times. But today was going to be different.

Phil passed the Pokemon Center, the biggest building in town. He looked up at its glass panes and red roof in admiration. He almost didn't see the boy kneeling in front of him in time.

The boy was down on one knee, feverishly gathering papers and stuffing them into a brown folder. He had neat, short black hair and wore glasses, which he pushed up the bridge of his nose as he saw Phil coming.

"Need a hand?" Phil asked innocently. He stooped to gather papers before waiting for a response.

"I suppose…" said the bookish boy.

Although there were a _lot_ of papers, it didn't take long to clear them all up with two sets of hands working on the task. Phil skimmed the last page he picked up quickly before he handed it to the other boy. He caught the phrases "legendary pokemon" and "rare, perhaps unheard of" in a messy scrawl. His curiosity piqued, craned his neck to see more as the other boy straightened a stack of the papers and put them into the folder. The boy who had dropped the papers glared at Phil and blocked his view with his arm, then relaxed his stern face and said,

"Thanks." He paused, then said, "my name's Nick."

"I'm Phil." Phil smiled as the two got to their feet. "You wouldn't happen to know Professor Larch, would you?" Phil regarded Nick. He had dark rings under his eyes and bore a very proper, old-fashioned demeanor (and clothing).

"I'm his assistant."

"Oh!" Phil perked up. This could be just the edge he needed. He had been trying on and off to get the Professor's approval, and by extension, a Pokemon from the old man, but Prof. Larch was _always_ busy. It seemed that he had spared the time to reject Phil in complete sentences only a handful of times over the years.

"I just started a few days ago," Nick said.

"Do you think you could do me a favor and get him to talk with me, just for a couple of minutes?"

Nick considered the request. "I suppose I can try." The two started walking toward the lab. "You must be that boy he warned me about."

"Warned you?" Phil cocked his head with a mischievous smile.

"He said there was a boy that tried to get into the lab once in a while. He said not to consider him a threat, but not to let him in, either."

Phil frowned, then said, "oh, come on. I'm sure he can spare, like, five minutes. Can't you do me this one favor?"

Nick thought some more, then said. "I suppose I do owe you one. I'll try, but I hope you realize that I just started working for him. I probably don't have much more sway than you do."

"Yeah, but I might as well try." Phil said, looking back at the Pokemon Center, his eyes filled with purpose.


	2. Chapter 2

"No." Professor Larch had not looked up from his stacks of hand-scrawled notes since Phil and Nick had entered the lab. It was very dimly lit; the only light source Phil could see was a single candle at the front right corner of Prof. Larch's desk.

Nick bowed his head, giving an apologetic look to Phil, then shuffled into the back room with a heap of papers. Phil refused to give up. He wracked his mind for some way to convince the Professor he was worthy. He had been so sure that Nick's word would have worked! Suddenly, an idea hit him.

"I've seen the legendary Pokemon."

Larch suddenly lifted his balding head from what he was writing. His eyes wild, he said slowly,

"What legendary Pokemon?"

"The one in your notes." Prof. Larch's head swiveled quickly toward the back room, his nervous eyes staring daggers in the direction that Nick had gone.

Feeling bad, Phil lied, saying "I distracted Nick so I could get a look at the papers. It, uh, wasn't his fault."

"Pesky child…" Prof. Larch muttered under his breath. He then jerked his neck back toward Phil.

"Yes! Well… If that's the case… And you're certain you've seen it?"

"Yeah!" Phil lied through his teeth. It was worth it to get his own Pokemon, he had to stick to it…

Prof. Larch ducked under his desk and noisily rummaged through a variety of objects. He produced a very strange Poke Ball and set it down hard in front of Phil. It made a sound like it was very heavy, for some reason. It was a dull purple color and had small spikes jutting out around the open button.

Phil was weirded out, but a swelling of emotion filled him. This was it. He was getting his Pokemon. Prof. Larch stared at him expectantly, waiting for Phil to take the Poke Ball. As soon as Phil did, the Professor started, and grabbed another sphere from under his desk. This was a normal Poke Ball.

"Yes, I suppose you'll need something to battle with, too…" He nodded at the Poke Ball that was still on the desk. "That's a Munna. Use it to battle, if you need to. The other one," he said as he leaned over the desk, directly into Phil's face, "is to be used only to catch the legendary Pokemon." Phil leaned back. "Do you understand me?" Phil nodded, and Prof. Larch retracted himself and went back to writing.

Phil took the Poke Ball containing Munna and turned around to walk outside. Only as he stepped back into the daylight – blinding compared to the darkness of the Lab – did he register the consequences of that conversation: he had a Pokemon!  
His eyes still readjusting to the light, Phil sent out Munna. It was a small, rotund Pokemon, hovering at eye level. It had floral patterns on its back. It looked at him with subtle bemusement, awaiting a command, or really any indication of what its new master was like. Phil's face beamed with glee, and he gave Munna a long, vigorous hug, squeezing a little puff of dream mist from its startled snout. Although the Pokemon was startled at first, it seemed pleased. It sent a small burst of psychic energy into Phil's mind: a meek but pure sense of companionship.

The time had come. Phil may have gotten himself into a bit of a mess with Professor Larch's strange legendary Pokemon fixation (and maybe gotten Nick into a little trouble), but _he had his own Pokemon now!_ Phil knew that a new chapter in his life was beginning, and he was going to make the most of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Phil rounded the corner onto Seldo's main street, Munna hovering above his shoulder. He had quite the spring in his step, and again, he almost walked right into someone. In this case, however, that someone almost walked into him, too.

The older girl (she was around eighteen, maybe nineteen) had her jet-black hair drawn back in a short ponytail. Her face was grim, and she locked eyes with Phil as they stepped toward each other.

The girl's name was Harriet. Phil recalled little else about her, but he had seen her around town now and then.

"You." Harriet spat. "Errand boy." Phil's eyes widened. That was a new one. He was hardly ever seen doing chores or running errands.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"I challenge you to a Pokemon battle. Right here, right now. Do you accept?"

Phil hesitated, taken aback. This was all so sudden! He had only a vague idea of what kind of moves a psychic-type like Munna could use. Still, he wasn't going to back down now that he could finally accept a challenge like this. He nodded affirmatively, and Harriet threw down a Poke Ball.

Her Pokemon was tall and lanky, tan in color. It stretched its cordlike legs as it loomed over Phil and Munna: Harriet had lead with a Hitmonlee. Phil was uncertain, the keen-eyed fighting-type making him wonder if this battle was a good idea after all. Munna, on the other hand, sprung into action.

The small psychic-type attacked the Hitmonlee's mind with a blast of psychic force, causing it to clutch at its head. Harriet barked a command, and her Hitmonlee righted itself and launched a high kick at Munna, twirling and closing the gap between them as it attacked.

Phil caught himself and called for Munna to dodge. It did so adroitly, using its small size and hovering to its advantage. Munna started circling the Hitmonlee's head, awaiting a command.

"Munna, use confusion again, and dodge!" Phil ordered. He was starting to get the hang of things.

"Don't give them the chance, Hitmonlee. Use hi jump kick!" Harriet had a confident but serious look on her face. Although the skill and power gap between the trainers and their Pokemon was no doubt immense, she wasn't letting herself get cocky. Still, Munna had the type advantage over Hitmonlee, and was managing to outspeed it, albeit narrowly.

The two Pokemon attempted to follow through on their commands. Phil immediately realized his mistake: he should have ordered Munna to dodge first, then attack. It was too close to Hitmonlee right now. The fighting-type's close range attacks were at their best in a situation like this.

Hitmonlee moved with lightning speed, crouching and winding up a powerful kick. It sprung forth, lifting off from the ground and sending a spinning foot toward Munna with great force. Munna sent out its psychic attack, but the wavelength of mental energy didn't reach Hitmonlee until the jump kick made contact.

Both Pokemon cried out as their attacks landed simultaneously. Munna lurched in midair, while Hitmonlee swiveled and swayed, clutching its head again. Harriet withdrew her first Pokemon.

Phil was tense, but proud to have at least bested one of the more experienced trainer's Pokemon. He wondered what she would send out next. He looked over his opponent – she wore simple, tight-fitting clothes that looked suited for a lot of moving around in. She had two Poke Balls on her belt. One of them contained the unconscious Hitmonlee, and the other… He was about to find out.

"Sneasel, go!" Harriet yelled.

Phil grimaced. A dark-type? And Sneasels were fast. This was bad.

Harriet's Sneasel seemed to attack before it was even fully out of its Poke Ball. Its claws danced midair. Munna dodged instinctively, but still took a couple of light scratches.

"Keep attacking until they give in! Show no mercy!" Harriet commanded her Pokemon. That seemed a little harsh to Phil. There was nothing at stake, after all. This was a friendly challenge, as far as he could tell. A veteran trainer showing a novice the ropes with some tough love. Right?

"Munna, uh…" Phil froze up. What could he have Munna do? He hadn't figured out any of its moves except Confusion, which would be useless here. Did his Munna even know any other attacks? "Stay back!" It sounded stupid – it probably was – but it was the best order he could think of on the spot. He noticed Harriet mutter something under her breath, but he couldn't make out what. No time to think about that now, though.

He looked at his Pokemon, which was frantically hovering away from the opposing Sneasel, which fiercely jumped and lunged, its claws moving blindingly fast. Looking at Munna's floral patterns, he got an idea. It wasn't great, but it was better than fleeing and hoping the Sneasel got tired.

"Munna, use energy ball!" Phil thought it was likely to work. The grass-type attack was fairly common among psychic-types he had seen battling before. Unfortunately, Munna just gave him a blank stare, then winced and cried out as it took a series of strikes from Harriet's Sneasel.

"Crap… Munna-" Phil started to try and dig his way out of his mistake.

"Finish it off!" Harriet exclaimed. Her Sneasel seemed to nod, then its attacks somehow sped up, scratching Munna over and over until the psychic-type's cries became too hard to listen to. Phil withdrew Munna. They had lost.

"Figures he'd recruit a total greenhorn." Harriet said as she withdrew her Sneasel. She leaned in close to Phil, making eye contact, and said, "anyone who associates with that lunatic professor is my enemy. You got that?" Phil leaned back, scared. He mustered a slight nod, and Harriet stood up straight again, rigidly so, then walked away without another word.


End file.
